Perhaps you can tell me where I'm wrong rather than demonstrate that you are a capable and erudite writer who pretty much says nothing with a lot of effort? You asked; people responded: change the name, someone else has it.

The whole point of the first post was that i wanted to know if anyone could at some time tell me "hey you cant use that name because pbs has the rights to that name and anything using that name that is Dead related would be subject to a forced switch".

No, PBS doesn't own the rights; The Schwag do. You are subject to a forced switch. Simple enough?

We'll see what the summer has in store, if we do bigger better things then the band name will change sooner than later. i just cant see that other group being so concerned with what some punks in cleveland are doing in front of fifty local yokals a few times a month. they know where to find me if they wanna talk about it.

As RiverRat has previously pointed out, they went to the effort to get the mark. You think they did this because they don't care?

You mention Plato, which is perfect, because you clearly adhere to the self-centered virtue ethics that the ancient boy-diddlers espoused. Maybe one day in your studies you'll come across more modern thinkers who think that the act and its ramifications matter more than whether you are personally comfortable with it. Point being, your arrogance is clouding your judgement.

As for the rest of your fluff, whatever, man. I'm not here to impress anybody, just offer my 2 cents. If it touches a nerve, too freakin' bad.

Anyway, I'm off to see Furthur. Hey... maybe that would make for a good name for your band, huh?

yes, that is my attitude. there is nothing wrong with it. you are the one with the problem not me.

Perhaps you can tell me where I'm wrong

you are a terrible reader. everything that i pointed out shows exactly where you are wrong. in fact what's sad about this whole thing is that you don't understand my text, which clearly shows you have a lack understanding towards the path of enlightenment and ironically those who choose to ignore its implications are referred to as being "ignorant", which you so eloquently accused me of being. you point out that i referred to Plato but you do not see where the logic was used which is so blatantly clear. when you finally leave the cave and enter into the light it will be blinding and you sir are blinded.

the act and its ramifications matter more than whether you are personally comfortable with it.

why would you assume that i do not take this into consideration? is it because i didnt come out and say it as clear as you would have liked to read it? there are times when something that is not said can be just as important. The act is harmless, and there have been no ramifications so therefore it does not apply at this time.

No, PBS doesn't own the rights; The Schwag do. You are subject to a forced switch. Simple enough?

you keep pointing this out, why? do you think i cannot read?

boy-diddlers

and now we find out that you're homophobic, which digs you into a deeper hole all culminating with:

yes, that is my attitude. there is nothing wrong with it. you are the one with the problem not me.

That is correct. I have a problem with your arrogance, apparent disregard for the legal rights of others and intolerance of advice that runs counter to your egotistic sense of entitlement.

Perhaps you can tell me where I'm wrong

you are a terrible reader. everything that i pointed out shows exactly where you are wrong. in fact what's sad about this whole thing is that you don't understand my text, which clearly shows you have a lack understanding towards the path of enlightenment and ironically those who choose to ignore its implications are referred to as being "ignorant", which you so eloquently accused me of being. you point out that i referred to Plato but you do not see where the logic was used which is so blatantly clear. when you finally leave the cave and enter into the light it will be blinding and you sir are blinded.

Still stuck on "ignorant", huh? I would posit that it is you who have the problems, both in hanging on to a grudge and in clearly making your thoughts known. In speaking about where I am wrong, perhaps you could address the points regarding the name rather than the continued ad-hominem attacks.

the act and its ramifications matter more than whether you are personally comfortable with it.

why would you assume that i do not take this into consideration? is it because i didnt come out and say it as clear as you would have liked to read it? there are times when something that is not said can be just as important. The act is harmless, and there have been no ramifications so therefore it does not apply at this time.

Yep. That's precisely why I think you neither take this into consideration nor regard the advice of others; you have commented on neither. If you don't write it, do you expect others to be mind-readers? One thing you can't criticize me for: you certainly know where I stand.

The act is not harmless if you are infringing on another's legally-held mark. The ramifications, ethically speaking (remember Plato here) are actually greater than whatever you may consider to be the fiduciary or legal possibilities. But you apparently don't care about that... despite all your hippie-cum-Plato nonsense, you are solely interested in what serves you.

No, PBS doesn't own the rights; The Schwag do. You are subject to a forced switch. Simple enough?

you keep pointing this out, why? do you think i cannot read?

Because you seem unwilling to either comment on, or honor the fact.

boy-diddlers

and now we find out that you're homophobic, which digs you into a deeper hole all culminating with:

Homophobic? How so? If you wish to make defense of pedophilia a talking point in your argument, be my guest.

whatever, man

But let's return to the matter at hand, shall we? And let me see if I've actually read you correctly (insofar as what you've actually written), just to leave no doubt. Let's leave the matter of you being a selfish prick when it comes to regarding the work others have put into this thing and focus on your favorite subject: you.

You have said that you are willing to consider changing the name (which you evidently don't even like), but predicate it on any success you may have while using it... "We'll see what the summer has in store, if we do bigger better things then the band name will change sooner than later." That not only makes no sense from a strategic point of view, as you'll lose the brand you have been trying to build, but it also infringes on the rights of the real mark-holder, doesn't it?

And you have no problem with that, justifying it by saying you're sure there are other local bands out there using the same name (which again begs the question of why you would want to continue using it, not to mention being pretty damned childish), and making the argument that you are protected from any legal action because you used the name before it was registered, correct? Am I misreading you at all?

You wanted a discussion of the legal ramifications of your band's name... you got one and turned into a petulant little shit when you were called on infringing on someone else's mark. Sorry if you have a problem with that, but that's the way it goes sometimes. So, yeah, "whatever".

LazyLightnin wrote:one is an established name - JimMiller band. he sounds good but is in nowehere near the form he was 15 years ago.

Just a word to the wise, it's a small world out there. I don't think my buddy Jim Miller would agree with you on that. I know I don't, and I saw Oroboros in their heyday a few times. He may not play out quite as much as he used to, but he's still seriously laying it down and has a great band that plays pretty good shows....at least he has the last few times I've shared a bill with him at Nelson's and in Pittsburgh in the past few years.

You've totally hijacked this thread, preventing me from thanking all these great people who have offered me lots of help. I will be giving a huge thank you but you are completely enamored with trying to make me look like a jackass.

btw i had my band come over to read the thread and we had a fun night of drinks and laughs at your expense.

When i say that i "Don't care" i am not saying that i don't care about what The Schwag thinks, i am saying i don't care what you think, feel or have to say for that matter. in fact i think we'd all benefit if you would just stop melting down in your posts and crying over shit that doesn't pertain to you at all, and you have the nerve to tell me to grow up! you're a small person living in a small world , an egotistical, pretentious, piss poor excuse for a person. you in no way represent them or me yet you keep trying really hard to be the "authority" on the subject. well your not. your nobody and you certainly do not represent the personality or attitude that this board stands for. you are an exception to everyone here as i see you have had problems with Grateful Pat that also stems from your lack of reading skills.....

abr. You have said that you are willing to consider changing the name

There are other Dead Ahead's out there. ones with actual websites, were not the only one. does that bother me? no. ITS JUST A BAND NAME! we are not playing the shorline or red rocks or at a jai alai somewhere, lol. we are 4 guys just playing around cleveland! Bands like them don't spend needless hours and money on lawyers to go after 4 guys playing at a dive bar, that just doesn't make any sense....its not practical. If we were trying to sell tickets and t-shirts or merch then i could see a problem, but were not.

there are a ton of cover bands, doing all kinds of music. how many Skynard bands do you think are out there using the same song title as their name? any band for that matter, cover bands are EVERYWHERE - why would they be so concerned with having the same band name as another band 5 states away? that's blasphemous!

You wanted a discussion of the legal ramifications of your band's name... you got one and turned into a petulant little shit

lol -again! I didn't turn into anything! you hijacked this thread, COMPLETELY melted down and freaked out. dude what the fuck are you smoking these days? your tweaking like a crack addict ffs! you eatin' some bad acid? or is your brain really just that fried?

your a terrible reader, most of your beef comes from a misunderstanding of the way things are worded.

last time i compromised and met you half way , you're totally abrasive, annoying and abusive - the "red headed step-child" of this board. i have no use in my life for someone that can act so negative. so while i start thinking of how i want to thank all the kinds folks here that gave me legitimate advice and were compassionate to the situation you can go ahead and see yourself out the door.

in fact don't bother ever communicating with me again. ever.

if you want to apologize than i'll accept a 12-pack of yuengling porter privately shipped to my door as it is not available in ohio.

On the contrary. You're definitely the one with the reading comprehension problem, as you might note that there's not a single person who has posted "just stick with the name for now; it's cool"... You asked for advice and have absolutely said that you were going to go the other way from what 100% of the people here offered. Your name-calling and pseudo psychology bullshit doesn't cover the stink of your selfish, ego-centric "what-about-me?" attitude. And I think we've all seen that your occasional attempt at hippie-dippy higher road veneer is just that, a bogus false-front that you seem to think is part of "being in the scene"; you are, at heart, a hot-headed putz who got all exercised over me calling something you posted ignorant in another thread two weeks ago and still haven't gotten over it. You've managed to insult not only me (I could give a shit, really, considering the source), but a whole lot of other musicians who have been playing for longer than you've been alive, who have laid the groundwork for any success you may have with your band, who have put in a hell of a lot of free time and hard efforts working to make sure you have access to information on this site. If you need me to go through the thread post-by-post, I'll be glad to, but I suspect your thanks will be met with all due respect they deserve; that is to say, little to none.

Might be time to give up on your lame attempt at image rehabilitation by trying to put all of your problems on me, and start actually thinking of a new band name... don't you think?

we can go back and forth saying the same stuff to each other, neither of us will back down. your lucky you didn't go back and look for anyone who told me to keep the name:

Use Dead Ahead, your band's not a DVD or a TV Special.

I played in a band called Dead Ahead for about a year! Jimmy T and Stu A from the Schwag have a new band called Dead Ahead. I would worry more about other bands out there than the DVD issue. Not saying you should worry, Im just saying they are out there. Probably 3 more as well!

I think in this case and I think I implied this before, you should just play and not worry about it.

Really just enjoy the music and your band. When you play bigger shows and festivals and get a nationwide following, Im sure you will know the name of your band

btw - im not anything what you want me to seem to everybody. i am totally unconcerned with coming off as a bad person, i never name-called or implied you to be anything but wrong. you keep taking things a step further - and im the hot headed one? i think its all pretty clear if anyone wishes to go back and read. you blatantly and erroneously attacked me and you had no good reason to do so other than to make me look bad.

instead of stooping to your junior high level of name calling and finger pointing i exerted my energy elsewhere into neutralizing your argument, but alas your ego is much to big for you to comprehend.

if you had read the posts correctly or understood what i had to say, you'd see that i admittedly was naive in choosing this band name in the first place. so what you didnt even read the first sentence? don't you see that i admitted to being at fault in the first place? again, im convinced that you can only read what you want to see. not only can you not read between the lines, you cant read them straight in the first place.

im bored with you, go away. your the kind of guy thats asks the teacher why she didnt give us our homework. and worse you seem like the kinda guy begging for another drink after last call. yes you are that annoying.

like i said before, stop communicating with me and leave my thread so that i can properly thank the right people for their help without you pissing all over what im trying to accomplish here.

Too fucking bad. You don't get to make the rules around here. If you have a problem with me, feel free to take it to the moderators/admins. If you don't want feedback, don't post questions on a internet forum.

I did go back; you really can't read, can you? Let's go over those four posts:

First gives erroneous legal advice, as your name is not in trademark violation with the DVD, but with another band...

which the Second post points out! This is your idea of advice to keep the name? What are you smoking?

Third does not explicitly say to keep the name.

Fourth does not suggest you keep the name either.

So, you're having a hard time defending yourself here. NOBODY has suggested, based on your original question of the legality of your situation, that you should keep the name. Instead of expending all of this time here defending the indefensible... or getting shitfaced with your bandmates laughing about this thread, why don't you use your considerable verbal talents to ACTUALLY COME UP WITH ANOTHER NAME? You are by far the most stubborn, egocentric person I have ever come across.

What's hilarious is that you've actually hijacked your own thread with your obsession with me, just because we disagreed whether Clapton was a great songwriter or not. You have serious anger management problems and couch it in the most amazing passive-aggressive mannerism. That you would get so set off over the most minute disagreement is high humor. Just to remind you, this is what set you down this road of epic selfing:

I hope that the above post is in jest. The Schwag's been around for almost 20 years and are very well-known in the community; nobody else is using their name... certainly not another Dead band. A lot of people here either know them, have played with them, built equipment for them or know folks who have. Two of their members play with Melvin Seals and JGB (Stu came from JGB to join the Schwag!). They've been around a looong time and deserve a modicum of respect.

People have answered your question and offered friendly helpful advice, trying to put it both gently and in stark legal terms why you should change the name and offering ideas on how to go about it, how to promote it, etc. If you were gonna just end up telling us all to piss off, why bother in the first place?

Seriously, what the fuck? Would you be comfortable tiefing "Playing Dead" because they're local to the Boston area? You need a serious attitude adjustment; don't let your classroom fame go to your head.

I stand behind every word of it, and this thread has proceeded to prove every bit of it.

thank you for the compliment. you can be a worth adversary at some points in the conversation.

What exactly do you see me defending besides myself and my integrity which you seem hell-bent on breaking?

You came out of left field throwing punches - and i hijacked the thread? you came in here mouthing off like a bratty 6 year old! why should anyone take you seriously considering the way you talk to people? you're rude, totally out of line and involving yourself way too deep into something that doesn't concern you at all. thank you for your first post, you gave me good advice and said your peace - why are you taking it upon your shoulders to make me look like a thief?

That you would get so set off over the most minute disagreement

excuse me, but i did not name call or harass you in anyway - that has been all your doing. "the proof is in the text" .

You need a serious attitude adjustment

and this is not a desperate ploy to get me to talk shit? what did you expect me to do after you would say such a snotty little comment like that? you're full to the brim with snotty schoolboy rhetoric. ya that ticked me off - good job, you seem to get off on getting people mad and making terrible impressions, as this is not your first time. strange way to spend your time. strange indeed.

what on earth makes you think that i don't get your point? what do you want me to say?

were 4 guys playing dive bars in a shit town! it will take me years to be on the level of anyone who could actually give a flying fuck about all this! I'll probably go through 10 band names and countless numbers of conglomerates before i ever make a name for myself!

your entire argument is totally in vain - ive never implied that i was gonna "make it" or really "go places" with that band name - in fact ive said everything to the contrary! what the fuck are you reading!? i clearly stated that if i were ever successful that the band name could NOT be used! wont don't you read my posts and understand like a normal fucking human being?

instead of getting off work and strolling in here to shed your rot all over my post just dit back relax and have a wank for the love of god!

Point being, you came here asking - as if it were somehow important - whether you should worry about changing the name. Clearly, you thought it was a matter of either urgency or interest - you did not differentiate - for whatever reason. You were given loads of advice and chose to argue why it was all wrong and made some outlandish statements along the way regarding a lot of other artists. I, not being a particularly talented artist, nonetheless feel very strongly about the rights of artists who take the time to be serious about their work... as The Schwag has been in registering the trademark.

Sorry, man, I don't really enjoy this at all. But there's a very much larger issue at hand regarding the rights of people who own a mark to reserve their rights to it. Do you think The Schwag would be dicks if they did contact you and asked you to cease and desist? Would your argument be that "it doesn't matter, because we're just some local yokels", or would it be, "oops, yeah we were warned about that - sorry"? Fact is, the whole concept behind a trademark is that the profits (okay, who among us really profits, right? ) from owning same are under the control of the owner who has taken the time to register the mark as theirs. It's not complicated.

Now, I'm really sorry if you think I've been a huge dick through this. But, you have been apparently completely incapable of seeing the light on this, preferring to argue your own virtue rather than honor the simple facts of who owns the rights to what. When I see someone utterly disregard the rights of other artists for their own personal gain (such as it may be), it irks me to no end; there's really nothing more contrary to the whole scene than stealing someone else's good name or operating under it. And, you've offered nothing but excuses as to why you should continue to do so. Fact is, "DeadAhead" is simply not yours to trade on. Moreover, I think you have got your head all turned around as to what a decent marketing/branding strategy might be; sticking with "DeadAhead" is self-defeating in the long-term, as many have posted. Believe it or not, I hope your band goes on to meet great success... but you seem to vain to avoid stepping on your own dick in the process.

So, I make my point however I can to get your attention where others obviously did not (or, at least you indicated you had no inclination whatsoever to pay it any heed). If any of this whole back and forth nonsense has gotten through to you, it may be because it is the only way to do so... at least based on your morally relativistic responses throughout the thread. I'm sure neither of us is as bad as we paint the other, but I've only got so many tools in the toolbox - and I wouldn't go on if I didn't care about it... about you, about The Schwag, about the overall issue. That's where I'm coming from, brother. Believe it if you need it or leave it if you dare.

Chuckles, I understand your point and i totally agree. I have NO malicious intent towards anybody for any reason.. why would i purposely and knowingly damage my own reputation or that of any others whom i hold in such high regard? please don't assume that is the case, trust me no one is that dumb. you know as well as i do that most of what has transpired in the last few day was argument for arguments sake. Im thinking about band names everyday, ill find a good one and some great people here gave me awesome suggestions ,mttoupro suggested estimated prophet - i like that , now if i could only get the band to count in 7 It has been difficult to find time to really sit down and think it through. I go to school full time plus i take keyboard and guitar instruction at the college twice a week( and i get credits for that!). also this is not my only band, i have a Clash tribute also (cue laugh track here) that rehearses every week and performs every few months. and on top of that i make extra cash hosting open mic nights using my own equipment. compound that with a deteriorating relationship with a crazy woman , instructing my bass player almost every step of the way and now all this garbage that is taking up a half hour of my night that i could really spend productively elsewhere.

see those folks that made the comments about the band name that i used in my last response probably see this situation as this:

were 4 guys playing dive bars in a shit town! it will take me years to be on the level of anyone who could actually give a flying fuck about all this! I'll probably go through 10 band names and countless numbers of conglomerates before i ever make a name for myself!

so just relax man, all i needed to know was the great info everyone here gave me. Dead Ahead is not my official band name - it can never be as it has been trademarked already. If i really cared about keeping it at all i would have never thrown myself to the wolves in here. i confided to the whole board about this. i was not scared to be told anything about the matter, i fully expected to found out what i did - i just didnt know how to go about doing it. im surprised that you never made a point of telling me that i should have trademarked it myself before they did, which i could have easily done but apparently not smart enough to figure that out lol

and don't worry , we haven't started any real marketing dude. we are still finding our dynamics together. every time we play a gig we grow. after all of this let me say that Dead Ahead never came out of my mind, i never suggested it be the band name. i wasn't really interested in naming the band as i have to do all the arrangements on paper for everybody and basically direct the entire lot - both of my bands. but i love it sooooo much. i am just getting my feet wet as a band leader, there's nothing more gratifying to me than to have 4 guys who have never played a particular song before, and by careful instruction(everything from harmonies to chord substitution), have them performing it spot on by the end of the night. its real magic sometimes when a band can come together so united under a groove and really feel it during a jam that they had the day before not even tried.

Do you think The Schwag would be dicks if they did contact you and asked you to cease and desist?

no, no, no, no, no, no, no! this is where we are confusing ourselves. everyone besides you, even my immediate family, fans, bar owners and fellow local musicians have told me that bands do not operate like that. I know a lot of attorneys, a family member has worked for them for years. one of them is a great guy who represents me for free whenever ive needed it. he has his own band too and jams with me every once in a while - even he told me not to worry - he said other bands don't "head-hunt" in that manner. If it were anything but:

4 guys playing dive bars in a shit town!

then there could possibly be a problem, but considering the fact that in reality that is what we exist as, no one with the authority would ever spend the time/effort/money to beat down some little guy. i see where you are making the point that it works against me using the name - i totally concur. everyone in my band is trying to come up with something different so we can properly choose a good name - something that you don't see because you are not here. so just relax. this is the only time you'll ever hear of a band with that name in ohio, unless someone else uses it.

Think about all the cover songs you've ever performed in your life. did you get consent from all of those artists every time you performed those songs? have you ever played a Dylan tune? he would probably lose his lid over that! he doesn't even want his tab online! are you/we not misrepresenting every one of those artists every single time you/we go on stage? - but yet they do not go after little guys like us - they're the big fish - were just little minnows swishing along.

my attorney friend likened it to folks getting busted over downloading free music and characterized it as not even being that serious. now i see where you can argue that point, because whats right is right in the face of trademark laws, which is why i keep saying Dead Ahead can never be my band name. we've only got 4 hours of music under our belt to perform, we have a long way to go and we when actually do something that might get noticed we will have a completely different band name. one that we will already have been performing under and paying our dues. i assure you that it wont be Dead Ahead

or, at least you indicated you had no inclination whatsoever to pay it any heed

part of the reason is because you have taken all of my time in this post to have a proper conversation with these good people about it. instead of letting me talk it through and getting all my ducks in a row you came out throwing punches - and while i try to deflect them and not come off as someone who would participate in such an angry discussion(it never needed to be), i have totally neglected the folks that deserve every bit of thanks i can give.

I'm sure neither of us is as bad as we paint the other, but I've only got so many tools in the toolbox

Chuckles, i never thought that you were a bad person. we don't know each other personally and im sure we'd get along just fine if we met - after all we like all the same stuff -almost im 100% sure that we have many more good things to discuss and agree on then disagree and argue about. thats why we are all here, because we have a common bond, which is also the reason why i hate arguing on this site because i believe its a disservice to the scene in general.

you may not remember, but about 4-5 years ago we had a great conversation and you friended me on myspace. i remember it so clearly because you were one of the first folks here to have such a nice conversation with me. I clearly remember seeing your mug in my top 5 friend list my myspace page is long gone as a friend thought it would be funny to hack it.

i think Elvis Presley summed it up best visiting former President nixon when he remarked:"(Mr. President).....you've got your show and i've got mine."

and im comfortable knowing your strong opinions about anything and everything. keep on keepin' on! we shouldn't be doing this to each other - its just wrong and not in the spirit of what we all stand for. I will take half the blame if you will hold yourself responsible to the other 50% - im referring to arguing in general. lets just live and let live bro.

"Let it Rain" my #1 Clapton tune that gets cranked to the max whenever it comes on

Cheers to you Chuckles, a most intelligent and worthy adversary and hopefully someone i can consider a friend and confide in later.

1. Nothing personal, but I don't think I ever friended you on MySpace; I've only ever been on MySpace but for about a week when trying to set up a site for my former band a long time ago.

2. Said previous band - about ten years ago - was called the Dirt Farmers. We played exactly three gigs in the year and a half we were together. Close to the demise of the band, we received a cease and desist letter from a Hip-Hop band with the same name out of Brooklyn. Bands might not act that way, but their agents sure do.

your not the chuckles with the beard? lol how many chuckles can there be?

we received a cease and desist letter from a Hip-Hop band

well that explains a lot, maybe they don't have the trademark anymore. that is a pretty common phrase though. you gotta figure almost every common phrase has been used as a band name, there's only so many words in the English language. you guys were probably more noticeable considering how close NY is to you, but then again - only 3 shows and a myspace page? must have been an aggressive well paid lawyer -damn!

3. Yuengling sucks.

I like the porter not the lager anyway. I was in Dc to see the Dead last year and they had the lager on tap at the Verizon Center -wow! i drank it anyway cuz ya cant get it out here come to think of it besides the Great Lakes brand there are not many other choices. I have an affinity for the "Dead Reckoning" porter outta Harrisburg PA. They opened a "Fatheads" brewery down the street, i believe they are Pittsburgh based, they've got a hell of a selection.

hmm band names.Dead Reckoning (yet another copy cat) Playin' - The BandThe Band - Playin'Dead OhioEstimated ProphetFriends of the DevilSo many ro-adsDiamond Duprees Shotgun Ragtime Band (my former conglomerate)Jerry's kidz (omg they just get worse the more i try)The SmokersCuyahoga Dead group (why do i keep using "dead"?)C-town meltdownBobby Nair's his legs band

The Dirt Farmers never even had a MySpace page - I've got no idea how they found out about us. But a good manager does exactly what this guy did, which is protect their client's interests. Think about it; if you had a client, the best way to keep them paying you is to show that you're providing a service to them. If that means going after protecting a trademark, that's one very easy way to go.

Seriously, the name doesn't matter as much as what you do with it. Are you on Facebook? If so, PM me and I'd be happy to fill you in on what we did with our ad campaign...

"In the past, identically named acts often carved out livings in separate regions, oblivious or indifferent to one another. Now, it takes only moments for a musician to create an online profile and upload songs, which can potentially reach listeners around the world.